{"id":88330,"date":"2017-09-10T12:46:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T19:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/?p=88330"},"modified":"2017-10-09T02:14:52","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T09:14:52","slug":"spain-portugal-tour-2017-way-traveler-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/archives\/88330-spain-portugal-tour-2017-way-traveler-day-1","title":{"rendered":"Spain &#038; Portugal Tour 2017 | The Way of the Traveler | Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Toledo, Spain <\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Toledo is our first stop to kick-start the Spain Tour 2017. Jan Rovecamp described Toledo perfectly, &#8220;A beautiful tapestry of humanity and culture.&#8221; We are all delighted with the hotel for a particular reason. We are staying at the NH hotel and the logo for the hotel when turned upside down spells HU.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-88809 size-medium aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017-578x325.jpg 578w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestream2017-HUspain2017.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once we all arrive, we gather\u00a0together in communion from around the world. Vincent DuPont begins the evening by calling in the Light followed by a beautiful chant of the Ani-Hu. As the sound of the Ani-HU fills the room we begin to relax from the travels in preparation for our Journey. John shares and prepares us for our spiritual journey we are about to embark on. John reminds us to have fun now because if it is not funny now, it will be later.<\/p>\n<p>Toledo is an ancient city on a hill overlooking the Castilla La Mancha plains in central Spain. Toledo is the capital of the region and the home of a number of beautiful monuments and home to the famous painter, El Greco. The exploration through the city of Toledo begins in the morning. As for tonite, the group dashes off the to Hacienda Del Cardenal Hotel Restaurant to enjoy the sound of its fountains creating a relaxing atmosphere. The Restaurant is inside an old Toledo mansion with rooms and outbuildings, decorated with tiles, wood and our first taste of Spain. The food is exquisite and we partake of many dishes of the Spanish traditional food. Chicken, salmon, fried eggplant, venison with cheese and the bread is out of this world. All complemented by a delicious dessert. We all slowly make our way back to the hotel with our spirit&#8217;s and bellies full to have a deep rest in preparation for tomorrow&#8217;s tour. <\/p>\n<p>Love &#038; Light, Julie<\/p>\n<p>Touring Photos by David Sand<br \/>\nScroll down to see Day 1 story by David Sand.<br \/>\n<div style=\"max-width: 640px; height: 400px\" class=\"fshow-wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/fshow_orbit_568f69558d682?photosetid=72157688910984985&user_id=71628367%40N07&gallery_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F71628367%40N07%2Fsets%2F72157688910984985%2F\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 400px\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"true\" mozallowfullscreen=\"true\" border=\"0\">\n<\/iframe>\n<noscript>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/s\/aHsm8wEE8V\" target=\"_blank\">Click to View<\/a><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Join Us in Planting Light Columns wherever you are and Light up the World together.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Here are two handouts from John-Roger on &#8220;Light Columns&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/LightColumns_DiscoursesVersion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here | Planting Light Columns #1 by John-Roger <\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/LightColumns_FulfillingTheSpiritualPromise.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here | Planting Light Columns #2 by John-Roger <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join in Visualizing a Light column wherever you are each morning with this map that shows the dates where we will be on tour to connect with the Light action around the planet.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestresam2017SpainTourLightMap.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-88795\" src=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestresam2017SpainTourLightMap.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestresam2017SpainTourLightMap.png 399w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Livestresam2017SpainTourLightMap-300x290.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h5><strong>We Would Love To Hear From You<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/my.cbox.ws\/MSIALiveEvents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here | to Chat with us during the Tour!<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:MSIALive1@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here | to Email us at MSIALive1@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<h5><strong>Would you like to receive email updates for the Tour?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/confirmsubscription.com\/h\/i\/72E606A41823AC8E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Add your email address to the OPT-IN list to receive email updates. When we have new posts you will receive and email in your inbox. Click the banner to Subscribe and Join the Celebration!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/confirmsubscription.com\/h\/i\/72E606A41823AC8E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-88790\" src=\"http:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017LivestreamSpainPortugalTourUpdatesBanner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"932\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017LivestreamSpainPortugalTourUpdatesBanner.jpg 932w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017LivestreamSpainPortugalTourUpdatesBanner-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017LivestreamSpainPortugalTourUpdatesBanner-768x259.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017LivestreamSpainPortugalTourUpdatesBanner-578x195.jpg 578w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 932px) 100vw, 932px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nDavid Sand&#8217;s Column<\/p>\n<p>There are about 20 sound and video cases to shepherd through airports from Los Angeles to London Heathrow to Madrid, from van to airport, to airport customs to bus, and about as many hours in transit. The Madrid airport seems almost deserted. The passport control guy stamps my passport without a single word or question. There\u2019s no customs, no entry form to fill out\u2014zilch. If we didn\u2019t have to register our mountain of equipment for import-export purposes we wouldn\u2019t have seen a customs person at all. Is it that it\u2019s siesta, or the weekend, or that nobody wants to come here? One of us says that an airport is a prime indicator of economic activity. That may be it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Why does it have to be Spain? Italy, England, France\u2026sure. Spain has always looked like combination of a military prison and a monastery to me, and one of the biggest joys of being an adult has been that I\u2019ve been able to stay out of schools, hospitals, prisons and churches. I don\u2019t know about you, but I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve ever felt ecstatically joyful looking at El Greco or Picasso or Velazquez. Passion, or sublimity or beauty, yes. People were asking me if I was excited to be going on this trip for the last couple of weeks and my face answered for me.<\/p>\n<p>Ina Cristina meets Roger, Julie and me at the airport in Madrid, we load the audio-video mountain into the bottom of the bus, and somehow during the hour\u2019s journey to Toledo the Spirit starts sneaking in\u2026and Spain begins to look pretty good. There\u2019s a very specific, discernible energy in MSIA trips and events. Inside the skin, it\u2019s a little bubble of happiness. Outside the skin it feels like a canopy of protection. It\u2019s almost impossible to worry about anything. It\u2019s a revocation of fear. I can still get a bit upset or judge, but there\u2019s no fear because\u2026.well, because\u2026it\u2019s like you\u2019re two years old and mommy and daddy are here. It\u2019s Mother-Father-God. Grownups might call it the Beloved because it\u2019s no one but it could be anyone. Upset or judgment can come in briefly but they can\u2019t claw their way up very high. Without fear to empower them, they slide back down. \u201cPerfect love casteth out fear\u201d says the Bible. It\u2019s impossible to get concerned about anything. I can get annoyed that I have to take photos or do other ridiculous physical procedures that interrupt the bliss, but if I just ask for the Light to guide me I can forget about the body enough so that it goes on a sort of automatic, my protests get drowned out in the activity of the moment, and I become a happy monkey doing my job.<\/p>\n<p>It makes no sense because the outer world hasn\u2019t changed one iota. I start chanting my tone on the bus and soon I\u2019m enjoying the graffiti and the barren landscape. This is not a rich country compared to most of the west. Unemployment is around 17%, and youth unemployment is down to around 38% now\u2014so things are improving compared to a few years ago. There are a lot of scars here, a lot of history. But when the Beloved is here the outer world seems like nothing. It\u2019s a joke, basically. I start thinking of jokes, and recounting the plots of some TV comedy shows on the bus as we\u2019re all laughing, exchanging jokes while the arid countryside rolls by.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We arrive at our hotel in the picturesque old portion of Toledo. It\u2019s beautiful, it\u2019s old, and the light on the stonework is silver-grey, yellow, pink, red, or orange depending on the time of day. It\u2019s a lot of stone. It\u2019s beautiful but it\u2019s hard. There\u2019s no carpet in the hotel, all stone and tile, so in your room you can hear people\u2019s footsteps and voices echoing in the hallway. It\u2019s that echo of monasteries, churches and prisons. An echo is audible history, a whispering of what took place just before. What\u2019s past seeps ineluctably into the present and reminds you that you can\u2019t really be completely free of its influence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a simple, charming, old-world hotel, with that feeling of ease and timelessness that lets you know you\u2019re in a place that was created by humans. The staff are very eager to help but they don\u2019t speak great English; there are a few sixties-looking odd large chairs in the attractive but sort of cavernous two-story lobby, overshadowed by big beams and more stone and tile. The electronic key-card system is broken so you have to go to whoever is at the desk to get them to open your door for you with their physical key. It\u2019s a problem when a lot of us get to the desk at the same time, and the staff is scurrying everywhere with their clanking handful of keys. But at least we can get out on our own\u2014so it takes the sting off the intimation of prison.<\/p>\n<p>I crash for hours and hours, wake up a bit, and sleep some more until I\u2019m thoroughly groggy. Sleep is interrupted briefly by breakfast and I\u2019m reminded that I\u2019m in Europe\u2014great breads, cheeses, fruit, juices. Our childlike, boisterous MSIA people start arriving and hugging each other, and as usual I glance at the more solemn natives on who are on vacation, hoping we\u2019re not bothering them too much. They seem cool, relaxed, like they can handle anything you throw at them. Then more sleep. In the afternoon I manage to get up in my dazed state and go downstairs to where our first orientation meeting will take place, and help get name tags, t-shirts and luggage tags set out. The orientation meeting is the usual combination of practicality, laughter, and just the right dose of chaos that are the hallmark of MSIA events. We meet our Spanish tour guides\u2014stylish, friendly, smart. They\u2019ll fit right in with us. Everyone is commenting on the fact that the hotel logo looks like HU when upside down.<\/p>\n<p>Then we walk through the old town for a typically Spanish, late, slow, 3-hour dinner. Now we\u2019re really in Europe, and under cover of the balmy evening all the echoes of monasteries and prisons dissolve. Great food in an outdoor dining courtyard, separate courses that go on and on outside a gorgeous old hotel. We enter through the wall of the old city with high stone parapets (Did this used to be a fortress? Let\u2019s not go there.) but softened by ivy, hedges, trees, gardens, delicate lighting on gravel footpaths, and a Spanish guitarist\u2014with no echoes because we\u2019re outdoors bathed in foliage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We get colored dots to represent which main course we want, which of course some people put on their foreheads. It\u2019s a summery, sweet night, with everyone a bit muffled, punch-drunk and relaxed from jet lag and the shock of being suddenly dumped off a plane into this new world\u2014except for one table that includes Marcos and his crazy battalion of Latins, who provide a laugh track for the whole group. I see this in MSIA workshops and events all the time. All it takes is one instigator to set it all off. It\u2019s still as true today as it was 2000 years ago. (\u201cThe form changes, but the formless never does.\u201d \u2014J-R)<\/p>\n<p>Strolling back at night through the brightly lit outdoor caf\u00e9s in the park, with their white chairs and white umbrellas glowing under the trees, dotted by just a few people sitting quietly, looking at each other or staring off into the darkness, I feel like I could be in Italy. I think this is going to be OK.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Toledo, Spain Toledo is our first stop to kick-start the Spain Tour 2017. Jan Rovecamp described Toledo perfectly, &#8220;A beautiful tapestry of humanity and culture.&#8221; We are all delighted with the hotel for a particular reason. We are staying at the NH hotel and the logo for the hotel when turned upside down spells [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":88328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[1590,1593,89,418],"class_list":["post-88330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ndh-archives","tag-iberia","tag-livestream","tag-msia","tag-soultranscendence"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msia.org\/newdayherald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}